Elderly woman, 91, dies in Didsbury house fire

A 91-year-old woman has died after a fire broke out at her home in West Didsbury. Irene Landau was rescued by firefighters at around 12.30am from her fourth floor flat at Ashfield Lodge on Palatine Road, but was pronounced dead at the scene.

A 91-year-old woman has died after a fire broke out at her home in West Didsbury.

Irene Landau was rescued by firefighters at around 12.30am from her fourth floor flat at Ashfield Lodge on Palatine Road, but was pronounced dead at the scene.

The fire was started by Irene’s discarded cigarette, and her flat had no working smoke alarms.

Irene’s carer, who also lived at the flat, suffered burns after trying to rescue her.

The 47-year-old carer was taken to hospital for treatment to the burns to her hands and feet but was released later today.

It is thought furniture in the flat caught fire and was smouldering for some time before the alarm was raised.

Three fire crews from Withington and Wythenshawe raced to the scene after automated fire alarms went off.

See station manager Dave Hughes in the video below:

Watch Manager Steve Jordan, from Withington Fire Station said: "We arrived to find a five-storey block of flats in a private gated area and there didn't appear to be any obvious signs of fire at that time.

"We were met by a caretaker who told us that there was a fire in one of the flats and an elderly woman trapped inside.

"We set about trying to establish how we were going to get water up to the fourth floor which we did by sending in firefighters with hose reels. One woman had managed to rescue herself and had suffered burns while trying to rescue the elderly lady.

"The fire had started in the bedroom and it wasn't a particularly large fire but it appeared to have been smouldering away and unfortunately, due to there being no working smoke alarms in the property, the fire had gone unnoticed for some time.

"We managed to rescue the elderly woman from the flat but she was sadly pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics."

Station manager for Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS), Dave Hughes, said: "The cause of the fire has been put down to a discarded cigarette.

"We’d encourage people to give up smoking, and most important of all we’d encourage people to get working smoke alarms."

Chairman of Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Authority, Councillor David Acton, said: "It's terribly sad that a woman has died and our thoughts are with her family and friends at this time.

"The woman who tried to rescue the elderly woman did a good job but we would advise anyone involved in a fire to get out, stay out and call 999.

"GMFRS would urge anyone who hasn't had a home safety check to do so by calling us on 0800 555 815 - smoke alarms give you an early warning when there's a fire and vital seconds to get out of the house."